Electrical connector having low board mounting profile
An electrical connector (1), which is adapted for mounting to a circuit board (5), has a mounting foot (21) with a top mounting surface (211), an elongated base portion (23) protruded outwardly from said top mounting surface (211) and fitting members (4) set on the top mounting surface (211). In assembly, the top mounting surface (211) is face to the back of the circuit board (5), and the whole mounting foot (21) is left below the circuit board (5), which can minimize the mounting profile of the connector (1) effectively.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly, to an electrical connector mounted from a bottom surface of a printed circuit board so as to reduce the overall height exposed above a top surface of the same.
2. Description of Related Art
In the last decade, electrical connectors are widely used in electronic devices, such as notebooks. As the time goes by, the popularity of these devices has risen as the cost and the sizes of the devices have diminished, and low profile is naturally required for electrical connector to meet the reduced sizes of the equipments said above.
T.W. Pat. No. 510588 issued on Nov. 11, 2002 discloses a related board end connector. Said electrical connector includes a base portion, a number of contacts received in the base portion, a guiding block on each one of two opposite side faces of the base portion for guiding the connector to mate with a mating connector, a pair of retention portions outwardly extending from the back face of the base portion and a pair of board locks fixed to the retention portions for attaching the connector to the circuit board. As mentioned above, retention portions are extending a certain distance beyond the back face to provide a base for retaining corresponding board locks, the base portion and the retention portions are mounting above the circuit board in a certain height.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,122 B1 issued to Wu on Dec. 18, 2001 discloses another electrical connector. Said electrical connector also provides a guiding block on each one of two opposite side faces of the base portion and the rear ends of said guiding blocks are cut to leave a space for forming retention portions. With the retention portions engaged in the height of base portion, board mounting profile can be minimized accordingly. However, the depth of the base portion usually defined by interface standard, asking for lower mounting profile faces more difficulty.
Hence, an improved electrical connector having low board mounting profile is desired to improve the disadvantages of the related arts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having low board mounting profile.
In order to achieve the object set forth, an electrical connector, which is adapted for mounting to a circuit board, has a mounting foot with a top mounting surface, a elongated base portion protruded outwardly from said top mounting surface and two fitting members set on the top mounting surface. In assembly, the top mounting surface is face to the bottom surface of the circuit board, and the whole mounting foot is left below the circuit board, which can minimize the mounting profile of the connector effectively.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
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It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrated only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
Claims
1. An electrical connector, comprising:
- an insulated housing having an elongated base portion with a mating head and a bottom-end opposite to the mating head;
- a mounting foot formed on the bottom-end, said mounting foot engaging a top mounting surface for mounting said electrical connector to a circuit board;
- a metal fitting member set on the top mounting surface of the mounting foot; and
- a plurality of terminals inserted into said insulated housing from the bottom-end to the mating head;
- a protrusion is formed on the top mounting face to leave an intervening space around the metal fitting member to avoid floating of the connector while it is welding;
- a pair of guiding blocks parallel to the base portion and join with elongated two ends of the base portion, the top end of each guiding block is located above the mating head;
- a mating slot is hollowed on the base portion vertical to the top mounting surface, and said mating slot is L-shaped;
- the mounting foot defines a slit, and wherein the metal fitting member has an engaging section retained in the slit and a fitting section for engaging the circuit board;
- said metal fitting member is assembled to the mounting foot through the back surface and extending from the top mounting surface;
- said mounting foot defines a back surface opposite and parallel to the top mounting surface, some supporting portions are extending from the back surface at a boundary of the mounting foot;
- two molding posts extending from the mounting surface in different size for keying and positioning the connector.
2. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe mounting foot is assembled under the circuit board.
3. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said contact section of the terminal is electrically connected to the bottom surface of the circuit board.
4. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein a part of the base portion is held in the circuit board.
5. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the terminals comprises an elastic contact section in the mating slot.
6. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein the base portion being going through the circuit board and extending to the front of the circuit board.
7. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 5, wherein said electrical connector further comprises each of terminals comprises a mounting section standing in parallel with the mounting top surface and a securing section interconnecting the contact section and the mounting section.
8. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 7, wherein a plurality of terminal channels are formed in the base portion and said each terminal is fixed to the terminal channel by its securing section.
9. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 3, wherein the support portions are abut on the back panel under the printed circuit board.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Jan 7, 2009
Date of Patent: Sep 7, 2010
Patent Publication Number: 20100173533
Assignee: Hon Hai Precision Ind. Co., Ltd (Taipei Hsien)
Inventors: Sheng-Ho Yang (Tu-cheng), Chun-Chieh Yang (Tu-cheng)
Primary Examiner: Neil Abrams
Assistant Examiner: Phuong Nguyen
Attorney: Wei Te Chung
Application Number: 12/319,479
International Classification: H01R 12/00 (20060101);